


Goddess

by meyari



Series: Hospitality [16]
Category: DCU - Comicverse, Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Harems, Multi, Religious Themes & References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-26
Updated: 2011-08-26
Packaged: 2017-10-23 02:32:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/245316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meyari/pseuds/meyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Diana prays to her Goddess for aid and gets more than she expected.  Then Alfred is surprised that someone can be even stealthier than he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goddess

The small traveling altar was a simple folding table covered with a beautiful piece of silk embroidered with images of the Gods around the hem. The heavy embroidery was a blessing as the altar itself was somewhat wobbly, requiring great care to be taken every time something was set on top. Because of the inherent instability, Diana held her breath as she placed the incense holder on the altar and carefully lit the incense. She always worried that it would topple over before the incense caught. To her relief, the incense took light without problems and slowly sent up a curl of fragrant smoke towards the ceiling and she was able to release her held breath. The open window behind the traveling altar allowed a breeze to enter. It curled into the incense, carrying it around the room and then out the window and on upwards to the heavens where the Gods waited.

Behind her, Donna and Cassie knelt quietly, their breathing even as they watched Diana prepare the altar. Steve sat behind them, head bowed in respect for their goddess. He was still learning their ways but meeting the Goddess before their trip to this land had done much to help him understand just how real and vital the connection between the Amazons and their Goddess was. Diana had hope that eventually he would join her in honoring Aphrodite as his Goddess but she would not push him to abandon the beliefs that had always given his life structure and meaning. Aphrodite did not require it nor would she wish to see Steve's God lose such an insightful and devout follower.

Focusing back on what she had to do; Diana took out Aphrodite's statue. It was small, barely more than a hand's length in height, but was carefully crafted of the finest gold with amethysts for the eyes. Diana set it carefully in the place of honor on the traveling altar. The first small gold bowl held one of Alfred's scones, truly a gift worthy of the Goddess in Diana's opinion. A second bowl held strawberries picked fresh from the garden behind the manor. The third held roses and pansies that Clark had picked from the harem's garden and given to Diana for this ceremony. Their scent was an enticing counterpoint to the incense curling around them. Into the fourth bowl Diana poured a small amount of wine from Lord Bruce's cellar. It was rich and red, adding a fruity scent to the ceremony.

Diana had pondered offering a sacrificial animal as this was a very important request, however in the end she had decided against it. Back on Themyscira Queen Hippolyta was doing the same ritual and she was offering a sacrificial lamb. It should suffice. Hopefully. All the offerings in place, Diana settled back on her heels and bowed her head.

Diana sang in ancient Greek as the ceremony demanded, calling to their Goddess with praise of her name and a plea for her to listen to her earthly followers. She knew that Cassie most likely didn't understand the prayer yet and to Steve it was nothing more than his 'Angel' singing but that didn't matter. What mattered was calling to their Goddess for her aid. Once the prayer was done, Diana added another bit of incense to the holder and raised her eyes to the statue.

"Aphrodite, Goddess of Love," Diana said, still in ancient Greek, "Hear me please. We have grave need of your aid. A being of great evil is working to become a Dark God. His evil threatens not just this world but the heavens as well. Please, hear us and give us aid."

The statue shimmered from within for a moment. Aphrodite's image formed over the traveling altar, stunning in her beauty and majesty. Cassie gasped and then bowed her forehead to the floor. Steve smiled at Aphrodite's image, charmed as men always were by the Goddess of love. Donna alone held her grim expression. Even Diana smiled to see their Goddess answer their prayers.

"I hear, my dear ones," Aphrodite said. Her voice echoed through the room, thrilling each of the inhabitants in their own unique ways. "We know of this would-be Dark God but had not been aware that he had come to this world."

"He has, my Goddess," Diana said, grim worry returning to her heart. "He has taken the king of this land as his host. That may be why he has gone undetected. We captured one of his warriors and freed her from his grip. She was most helpful and will be a powerful ally for us."

Aphrodite smiled. "I am aware of her. The people of Tamaran are beloved of me. They have long followed the ways of love, though I wear a different name and a different face among them. I am pleased that Princess Koriand'r has been rescued. You may count her as an unknown Amazon sister, for in every way that counts she is one of your people."

Diana controlled a gasp, surprised to find that their Goddess had followers on other worlds. It made her intensely curious about Koriand'r and her people but there would hopefully be time to ask of her home world when this was all over. Donna little gasp of awe was echoed by Cassie's highly inappropriate swear word, which was quickly smothered by her hand clapped over her mouth. Steve only grunted as if that made complete sense to him.

"I am delighted to learn this, my Goddess," Diana said with a smile that Aphrodite echoed. "My Goddess, is there anything that you can do to help us in this battle? We wish to defend not only this world but you. Darkseid would destroy you and that is something that we cannot abide."

"We the Gods have spoken on this matter," Aphrodite said gravely. "Darkseid is a threat to all deities on all worlds, to all life, love and freedom. We have agreed that he must be fought with all force possible. It would destroy the Earth if we were to act freely however we have created weapons that will help you and your allies to act against him. When the time comes we shall be there to aid in the final capture and destruction of Darkseid."

Diana scooted back as Aphrodite gestured and light began to shimmer between the altar and Diana. An amulet set on a wide metal collar formed first. Next was a mirrored shield that resembled the one from the myths of Perseus. It looked as though it would reflect anything cast against it, returning it to the one who cast the spell. Third came, oddly, a slave collar and cuffs decorated with Apollo's rays. Finally, there was a small clay flute in the shape of a robin. It had gilded claws and a gilded beak, with tiny black jewels as its eyes and red glaze on its breast.

"He who will challenge Darkseid must wear the amulet," Aphrodite declared. "It shall protect him against the darkness that Darkseid can cast into a person's heart. The shield will be both weapon and defense. Tell him to use it wisely for there will only be one chance for it to serve its purpose. The collar and cuffs must go to the child of light who would be destroyed by Darkseid's darkness. If he were to break in the coming events it would feed great power to Darkseid and that must not happen. Finally, the flute is to be used when Darkseid has been cast out of the body he has possessed. Do not use it sooner or all shall be in vain."

"Thank you, blessed Aphrodite," Diana said, bowing her head to the floor. Behind her Steve, Donna and Cassie followed suit. "We shall use your gifts with care and as much wisdom as we are capable of."

"I am sure that you will, beloved child," Aphrodite said. She smiled and then her image faded away, leaving them staring at the small traveling altar with Aphrodite's statue and the offerings to her.

"Wow," Cassie breathed.

"Yeah, wow covers it," Steve agreed in an equally worshipful tone.

Diana laughed quietly. She sang the prayers of thanks and carefully dismantled the altar, packing it away again. Once that was done, each of them took one of the Gifts so that they could take them down to the others. There was much that needed to be discussed and plans to be made. She truly hoped that they could get help from the Houses of Magic that Lord Bruce and the others spoke so highly of. Even with the gifts of the Goddess, they were quite outmatched.

"Princess," Lord Bruce said as they returned to the library that seemed to be the official meeting place for Lord Bruce's allies. "How did it go?"

"Well," Diana said. "Aphrodite answered us and graced us with several gifts that will help us greatly."

She looked at Clark who bowed his head and then nodded that they were not being listened to. Diana laid the shield on the table, directing the others to set their Gifts there as well. The others gathered around, examining the gifts with curiosity and grave concern. Dick gravitated to the collar and cuffs, which made Diana nod to herself. If anyone was in danger of destruction at Darkseid's hand it was Dick. The coming punishment seemed to her to be the obvious threat to him. Clark, no surprise, automatically took up the shield, smiling that it fit perfectly on his arm. He frowned at the mirrored front, looking at Diana.

"The amulet and shield are to be yours," Diana said. "The amulet will protect you from our enemy's darkness and the shield must be used carefully, for it will only be effective once."

"The Omega Effect!" Koriand'r gasped. She ran a finger over the edge of the mirrored shield, excitement filling her face. "He can fire beams from his eyes that will destroy whatever he aims at. It's said that nothing can resist them and that they can bend around obstacles to reach their target."

"That must be what the shield is intended for," Diana said with a thoughtful nod. "We may wish to cover the shield before you go into battle so that he does not anticipate your ability to repel the blasts."

"Good idea," Clark said, carefully setting the shield down. "And the flute?"

"Aphrodite said that it is to be used once Darkseid has been expelled from his current body," Diana said. Tim had picked it up and was carefully examining it. "It must not be used any sooner or all our work shall be in vain."

A knock sounded at the door and everyone stiffened. Alfred came in, bowing to Lord Bruce and the assembled nobles. He had a young woman with him, dressed in a simple black dress with a silver vest that molded to her body. She smiled at them all, cocking her head and raising one eyebrow at the gifts on the table.

"My Lord, Lady Zatanna of the House of Zatara has arrived," Alfred said. He started when he realized that Zatanna was standing next to him. He'd apparently thought that she was still waiting by the entry if his expression was anything to judge by.

"Welcome," Lord Bruce said, though he was frowning at Zatanna.

"Thank you for extending the invitation," Zatanna said. She came over and studied the items on the table. "You could probably do with some charmed weapons to add to these."

"You know who we're fighting?" Diana asked.

"I do," Zatanna said with a sad sigh. "Unfortunately, most of the Houses of Magic have refused to go up against Darkseid. They seem to believe that if they do not directly challenge him they'll be left alone once he takes control of Earth. My house knows better. My father, my nephew Zachary and I will aid you; however there are limits on what we can do. The magic that we perform does not work in the same way that common magic does. There is a price for tapping into the deep magic."

Diana frowned, abruptly concerned for the young mage. Their fight was a righteous one but she did not want to see anyone destroyed because of it. Zatanna smiled at Diana's concerned expression, waving a hand as if to wave away her worries.

"I only mean that we cannot solve this problem for you, Princess Diana," Zatanna said with a wry smile. "We can cast spells that will shield you from Darkseid's evil touch and we can probably free those trapped in the Doom Helmets with the aid of your Goddess, but we cannot fight him directly. When you go into battle we will not be able to be by your sides. He would suck the magic from us and turn it against you."

"Destroying the Doom Helmets would be the best thing that you could do," Clark exclaimed. "They feed him power."

"How can our Goddess help?" Diana asked.

"The spell written into the helmets is the Anti-Life Equation," Zatanna explained. "The Equation has an opposite that cancels it. The heart of that equation is Love, and your Goddess is the living expression of love, Princess. I believe that your consort will make an excellent focus for that part of our efforts."

Steve blinked and blushed brightly as attention turned to him. He looked as though he wanted to hide behind Diana and couldn't quite bring himself to do it. When she chuckled and took his hand Steve grinned and shrugged.

"I'll do whatever I can to help, of course," Steve said, "though I'm not sure what good I'll be in this battle. It's a little different than fighting pirates on the poop deck."

"You do not give yourself enough credit, Beloved," Diana said as she kissed his cheek fondly. She turned back to Zatanna. "We should speak of this and determine what needs to be done. We plan to challenge Darkseid tomorrow."

"Ah," Dick interrupted, holding up the collar and cuffs. "What about these?"

"I believe they are for you, Richard," Diana said. "Aphrodite said that they were to go to the child of light who would be destroyed by the darkness. I can think of no one else who better fits that description."

"They do have powerful protections worked into them," Zatanna agreed while staring at the collar and cuffs. "Rather like the amulet but more so. I believe if you wear those Darkseid and his followers will be unable to touch you."

Dick's eyes went wide but he offered the collar and cuffs to Lord Bruce who gravely took them. He studied them carefully before locking each cuff around Dick's wrists and then placing the collar around his neck. The cuffs were very similar to the ones that the Amazons wore, though Dick's had loops for chains to be attached. The collar was not like the simple chain collar that Dick and the other mainland slaves wore. It was a solid ring of metal with one hinge in the middle to allow it to fit around Dick's neck.

Once it was in place the collar glowed and the hinge disappeared, leaving Dick with a ring of silvery metal around his neck. The center front had a tiny amethyst on top of a ring to attach to a leash. Light shivered over Dick before fading away into his body. He shuddered and put his fingers on the collar, feeling it out carefully.

"Um, it will come off, won't it?" Dick asked.

"The spells on it will allow it to be removed," Zatanna said as she peered at him. "I believe that you will be the only one who can remove it now that it has been put on. Interesting."

Dick relaxed a little and then smiled brightly as Lord Bruce put a hand on his shoulder and Roy hovered next to him protectively. Rather than join in the planning that began immediately after that, Diana took Zatanna's elbow and nodded towards one of the couches on the other side of the room.

"Come," Diana said, "Sit with us and explain what you would have my Beloved do and how my Goddess can help. There is much to do and little time to do it in."

"Of course," Zatanna said.

Diana settled into the couch with Steve at her side. Whatever aid Zatanna's house could give them, Diana was determined to get Amazon warriors for the battle tomorrow. Defeating Darkseid was a matter of not just magical and godly effort but also of pure physical battle. They had to be sure that Darkseid did not win the battle physically before they could even bring the magical side to bear. And truthfully, Diana was very unwilling to let Steve go into this battle without a guard, even if Zatanna cast spells on him and her Goddess blessed him. The last thing she wanted was for him to be harmed while she did battle elsewhere.


End file.
